old friend — Simone Miller

おひさしぶり。(ohisashiburi).

That was my thought after stepping foot in Ueno Park again. Hello again, it's been six years. Six years ago, I visited Ueno Park. It was summer of 2010, the weather was hot and humid. It was draining just to step outside the sanctity of air conditioned bliss. I would already start sweating from just getting ready in the morning.

That day spent in Ueno Park is one of the most vivid memories I have of my trip to Tokyo six years ago. I remember renting bicycles and biking from Asakusa to Ueno. That's when I learned Tokyo wasn't completely flat. I also learned that my rental bike made a horrific screeching sound when I braked all the way down that hill. I visited the Tokyo National Museum, a place I then recognized a year later in The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. I remember biking through Ueno Park, the breeze offering some relief to the torturous heat; cicadas' cries were the song of the summer. They fell from the trees as I cycled through the park. I also remember having to drag my bike up and down the stairs of the park - it was the most awful experience and knocked the energy out of fifteen-year-old me. But the park was beautiful. The lotus of Shinobazu Pond were a vibrant green with blotches of pink blossoms. The sun was setting and it started to cool down. I tried matcha ice cream for the first time and hated it. I remembered all these things as I walked through the park last Thursday.

Of course after six years, the park has changed. But visiting Ueno again gave me a sense of familiarity, even if I didn't completely recognize everything. It was a touching feeling, like I was visiting an old friend again. How have you been? Oh how you've changed. That feeling of familiarity was so warm and comforting. Walking through the park reminded me of so many things. I was happy to see the shrine again - I remembered looking at it in awe for the first time. I explored the park to see how my old friend had changed. The lotus were still beautiful, blowing peacefully in the breeze of a much calmer fall day. They flowed like a river of green beneath the shrine. Not as green as my first visit, but still a magnificent sight. I was able to see the same critters again, too. Ducks, koi, cranes, and turtles were all there. It brought me such serenity to sit and gaze at the shrine from across the pond. As I sketched I thought of Asakusa. Asakusa was my first home in Tokyo.

Soon, I'll visit you too.